In an ordinary yarn winding machine, there is used a traverse drum which drives a winding package by contact with the surface of the winding package and traverses a yarn from side to side. An endless guide groove is formed on this traverse drum and the yarn is traversed from side to side along this groove. When yarn breakage takes place between the winding package on the drum and the traverse drum, the yarn end on the package side is wound on the package but the yarn end on the cop side is occasionally wound and caught on the drum groove of the traverse drum by the force of inertia and the static electricity generated on the surface of the drum. Furthermore, because of such a property of the yarn that the yarn tends to travel along the shortest distance, the yarn is often wound on the groove in the vicinity of the center of the drum. Such yarn wound and caught on the drum groove should be removed immediately after stopping of the drum.
The yarn wound on the groove bottom of the drum cannot be removed by hand without using any tool, and since this removal should be performed by inserting a knife or the like into the groove, there is a risk of damage to the side wall or bottom wall of the groove. Of course, the surface of the drum and the yarn contact surface of the drum groove are finished very smoothly so that fibers are not caught or scratched on such surface. Accordingly, if the yarn contact surface is damaged, yarn breakage is occasionally induced during the winding operation.